Strategy, creativity and professionalism: Africa’s best public relations campaigns showcased at the 2013 PRISM Awards

The annual PRISM Awards are presented to African public relations and communication professionals who incorporate strategy, creativity and professionalism into innovative and successful public relations and communication programmes. Amazed each year at the creativity, insight and return on investment that consultants and practitioners deliver, the judges selected the very best from the many entries submitted for the 2013 PRISM Awards.

Africa’s 2013 PRISM Awards, recognising excellence in the public relations and communication profession, were awarded at The Hilton Hotel in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Sunday 7 April 2013, following a tough selection process by an impressive panel of 32 judges, including Global Alliance (GA) Chairman, Daniel Tisch, judging almost 200 high calibre campaign entries submitted across 37 categories by 56 public relations consultancies, corporates and other in-house public relations departments.

The judges expected a high standard of excellence and specifically judged entries on competence in five areas: Statement of problem/Opportunity, Research, Planning, Execution and Evaluation.

“Every year during PRISM season, we are very keen to see what the public relations and communication industry has produced,” commented Marilyn Watson, Chief Judge of the PRISMS. “We are often amazed at the creativity, insight and return on investment that consultants and practitioners have delivered to their clients.”

And the winners are...

The winner of the 2013 overall PRISM Gold Award is Ogilvy Public Relations Johannesburg for its ‘Add Hope: Journey of Hope’ campaign on behalf of KFC/Yum South Africa (YUM! Restaurants International).

Their public relations-led campaign saw traditional, digital and social media work seamlessly with above-the-line and activations to evolve KFC’s three-year-old Add Hope initiative – which allows KFC patrons to “Add Hope” by adding a small amount to their bill to help feed a hungry child - from an in-store mechanic into an integrated public relations and social effort.

In 2012, KFC South Africa took this existing menu mechanic on the road in the form of solo-adventurer Riaan Manser’s 4 100km bicycle journey from Cape Town to Johannesburg - on half the calories his body would need, thus living as the hungry do. Proving that a small contribution can make a difference in filling a hungry tummy, the campaign spurred South Africans into action. Ogilvy PR achieved a return on investment of 1:34 while, critically, KFC will be able to fill 15 million tummies in 2013 due to the Journey of Hope.

The Gold Award for ‘Best Small Public Relations Consultancy’ was awarded to fast-growing agency Retroviral Digital Communications, a recipient of several PRISM Awards, including two Gold Awards in 2012.

For a full list of Gold, Silver and Bronze award winners, and for more information on the PRISM Awards, visit www.theprismawards.co.za or follow us on Twitter: @theprismawards #prisms2013. Alternatively contact Susan Richardson from PRISA on +27 11 326-1262 or e-mail susanr@prisa.co.za or visit PRISA’s website www.prisa.co.za.